Am I being swindled?

Hi Everyone

I am new to the forum and hope someone can help. I live in Scotland. My husband and I separated at Easter and he moved out family home 5 weeks ago. He owns his own business which is registered to the family home. However, I have just discovered, via the internet, that he has set up exactly the same business under a slightly different name with the business address of a flat he owns solely under his own name. Why would he do this? Is this a tax scam or is he trying to swindle me in anyway for the pending divorce? Or am I paranoid?
Please help

Many thanks in advance

Welcome to Wikivorce, although I''m sorry you find yourself with a need to be here.

Has he set up the new/mirror business after the date of separation? Assets (and liabilities) acquired after this date remain the sole ownership of that one party and are not deemed to be matrimonial assets.

Is the first business still operational, or has everything been transferred to the second one? I would suggest you seek legal advice from a family law solicitor to clarify the situation.

There is nothing to stop a person changing the name of a business, winding on up and transferring the assets from one to another (which from the tone of your post sounds like what has happened).

I know that the law is somewhat different in scotland than in England.

However, in England all limited companies are registered at companies house and you can go on line and get abbreviated accounts, you can get the articles of association and memorandum.

The acccounts will show if one company has been wound up they will also show the date of the new company.

As the proceedures in Scotland are quite different from that of the UK Rubes is in a good place to tell you about the disclosure and how it is done at the beginning of a divorce.

If the first company has been closed down and the assets removed he has to declare that in England and I would have thought it is no different in Scotland.

In general terms I think the Law in Scotland is much simpler than in the UK generally so I hope it protects your interests in this.

If he has set up a new business, but not filed for divorce is this still classed as a marital asset.

Not necessarily, Revenge - in Scotland, marital assets are those which are accrued during the length of the marriage, up to the agreed date of separation (bar gifts and inheritances) anything prior (except in certain circumstances, ie the MH being purchased prior to the marriage but with the intention of it being the marital home) and anything accrued after the date of separation is not deemed to be marital assets.

I agree and even in England that is supposed to be what happens if you read section 25 of the marital causes act.

Rubes have you seen my post in finance entitled Law Commission Financial and what are your views have you read about that yet, to me it will make things far less contentious and costly in the UK and far less agonising.

I just hope that the original posters husband is not being dishonest by wrapping up a marital business and then transferring the money into a new business under a different trading name.

To help we need to know

a) whether the business has any capital value or is the value mainly in the income it produces

b) if the business was acquired during the marriage with family assets or if your husband owned the business before marriage